'He cannot turn round. He is chained in that position to an iron staple in the wall.'
I burst into tears. It is a woman's refuge when words fail her, and sometimes it softens the beholder, but not in this case; the man standing by my side possessed a heart of stone.
'Tears do no good, madam,' said he. 'It is perfectly useless for you to stand there weeping.'
'How long has he been chained there?' I asked at length.
'A day or two,' answered Sir Claudius airily. 'If you really wish him to be liberated,' he said, 'you have it in your power to set him free—otherwise, as I said, to-morrow morning—the gallows.'
'Oh, no! No!' cried I. 'Not that! Not that!'
'But I say it must be that, unless——'
'Tell me,' said I, 'does he know what fate is in store for him?'
'No. He does not know yet. But I can tell him now. He will hear my voice if I shout.'
'Oh, but do not shout it,' I exclaimed heroically, resolving that if I could prevent it Sir Hubert should never hear that dreadful sentence.